President Donald Trump posted a photograph of himself to Twitter wearing a face mask Monday, suggesting it was "patriotic" to don one "when you can't socially distance."
Trump tweeted:
"We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can't socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!"
The post comes the same day as Surgeon General Jerome Adams appeared on Fox News, "pleading," "begging" the public to wear masks.
Trump has rarely been seen in public wearing a face covering but made an appearance at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on July 11 in one.
In an interview recorded Friday and aired Sunday on Fox News, he dismissed host Chris Wallace's question if he would consider a national masks mandate because "the CDC claims that if everybody wore a mask for 4 to 6 weeks, we could get it under control."
"No, I want people to have a certain freedom and I don't believe in that, no," Trump said. "And I don't agree with the statement that if everybody wore a mask, everything disappears."
Trump did not dismiss the notion completely, however.
"As you know, masks cause problems too," he said. "With that being said, I'm a believer in masks. I think masks are good."
He has resisted calls to be more visible wearing a mask, to set an example, and also rejected the demand from some, such as Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., for a national mask mandate.
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